


ready, set, run

by pawn_vs_player



Series: DefectTale [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Chara, Abusive Relationships, Altered Mental States, Angst and Tragedy, Canon Temporary Character Death, Chara Possessing Frisk, Chara is f u c k e d u p, Chara may be the villain now but they didn't start that way, Child Murder, Flavor Text Format, Frisk Has Issues, Frisk fucks up and everyone suffers, Frisk screwed Chara over, GOOD GOING FRISK, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, Mental Disintegration, Origin Story, POV Third Person Omniscient, Poor Sans, Undertale Saves and Resets, and then Chara screwed everyone else over, buckle in, dammit Frisk, it's gonna be a long ride, to be fair so is most of undertale's cast, we're going ALLLLLL the way back to the beginning for this one folks, yes the 'temporary' is only there because of the resets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-23 21:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8343739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pawn_vs_player/pseuds/pawn_vs_player
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a red soul, and a red soul, and they tried to save everyone.Once upon a time, one soul was corrupted by fear and started fighting back.Once upon a time, remorse came too late and hatred overthrew mercy. ((Or: in which the reason DefectTale exists as a separate entity from the true game is finally revealed... and it's probably not what you were expecting.))





	

**Author's Note:**

> *The author throws a quick shout-out to Emma and Paige, whose contributions on the night of spooks and sweets really helped bring this fic together.  
> *The author is glad to announce that this is really, really canon! For every part of DefectTale! Continuity, finally!  
> *The author shakes a box of comment cookies meaningfully.  
> *The author thanks every commentor who's showed appreciation for their series.  
> *The author hopes you enjoy this story!

*Once upon a time, a human child jumped into the Underground.

*(I could tell you why they did that, but everyone- even the villains of the stories- deserve a little privacy.)

*Once upon a time, the prince of the Underground found that human child lying bloody but alive in a patch of flowers.

*Once upon a time, the prince took the child home with him, and the queen healed the child, and the child was adopted into the Royal Family.

*Once upon a time, the child was forced to bear a burden they were never prepared for.

*Once upon a time, the child made a mistake and hurt their father.

*Once upon a time, the child got an idea.

*The child had never been quite alright, even before they jumped; but having all the hopes and expectations of the Underground heaped upon their shoulders had not helped their mental state. The child was ready to do anything,  _anything,_ to help the people who had been so kind to them.

*Once upon a time, the child returned to the patch of buttercups that had cushioned their fall and saved their life, so long ago.

*Once upon a time, the child steeled themself and forced flower after flower into their mouth and down their throat.

*Once upon a time, the child poisoned themself.

*Once upon a time, the child lay sick in bed for many days, surrounded by weeping monsters. They did their best to comfort their family, though they still did not quite understand why they wept so.  _You're going to be free,_ they said over and over, and did not understand why that made their mother cry harder.

*Once upon a time, the child died, and their brother the prince absorbed their soul and went through the barrier locking monsters underground.

*They had a plan, the child and the prince. They had selected six souls to take, six souls along with the child's to break the barrier forever. But while the child's heart was steeled, the prince's was softer. He was merciful.

*Once upon a time, the prince of the Underground fell to dust under the blows of terrified humans, and his soul and his sibling's burst apart into the air together.

 

 

*Half upon a time, the child's soul did not quite die. The child refused to die when their plan had failed, when their brother- he who they loved more than anyone- had betrayed them after all their hard work, when their parents and their people were still locked up under the earth.

*Half upon a time, the human child was d e t e r m i n e d to continue.

 

 

*Twice upon a time, an orange soul fell into the underground. The lost soul did their best to help the brave human, guiding him through fights and away from challenges too great for even him, but he inevitably fell to the merciless points of their father's trident.

*Twice upon a time, a pale blue soul fell into the underground. The lost soul tried to save the patient human, pleading with her to follow their mother's advice, to stay hidden, to be cautious, but she was caught by the Royal Guard and her soul stolen.

*Twice upon a time, a green soul fell into the underground. The lost soul told him of Toriel's suffering and the kind soul stayed with her a long time, but eventually the green soul wished to spread his kindness to the rest of the monsters, and Toriel was not alert enough to stop him. The kind soul was skewered by the spear of the new head of the royal guard.

*Twice upon a time, a purple soul fell into the underground. The lost soul warned her what would happen if she left the ruins, but the purple soul was curious. The purple soul perservered through Toriel's alarm, waiting her out until her guard dropped, and slipped out of the Ruins as she slept. The purple soul almost made it to Asgore before being struck down by his loyal Judge, waiting for her in his hall with magic sparking freely into the air.

*Twice upon a time, a dark blue soul fell into the underground. The lost soul was nearly hopeless by then, crying more than they spoke, but they tried their best to save this human too, for they believed in the innocence of their fellow children. The dark blue soul wandered and ran for a long time, tutu torn from their body by grasping fingers, pink shoes spotted red as their feet bled from exertion, but they were strong. They made it to Asgore's garden and collapsed, sobbing, pleading for mercy. Their only mercy was a swift death.

*Twice upon a time, a yellow soul fell into the underground. The lost soul greeted her with dry eyes and outstretched hands: they were drained of hope by then, but they had nothing else to occupy themself with. No one else could see them or hear them; and besides, the lost soul felt it their duty to at least try and save  _someone_. The yellow soul listened to their advice carefully and treated everyone fairly, and reached the Hall easily. There the yellow soul met the Judge, and she was matched in trait but not in power: the Judge won, apologies on his lips and mercy in his eyes, taking the soul gently and treating the empty body with respect.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, a red soul fell into the Underground.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul bent down to greet them, irrepressible hope stirring from its stagnancy in the pit of their stomach. The fallen child looked up and took the lost one's hand,

*and thrice upon a time, something changed.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul's cracked, dusty self was subsumed by the bright, fresh scarlet of this new fallen one.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul and the fallen child became the same.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child wandered the Ruins, solving puzzles easily and *sparing the monsters they came across. The voice inside them, the voice that was their own and not their own, the voice that was of them and outside of them, preached mercy and kindness and patience, bravery and justice and integrity, perserverance and hope and d e t e r m i n a t i o n. 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was found by a goat monster, a once-queen with sad eyes and a hopeful smile who fed them and cared for them and loved them. 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child spent weeks with her, enjoying this new-old reality. 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child grew curious about the outside world

wanted to go back to New Home and see their father

wanted to go home to their aunt and see if she was better

*Thrice upon a time, the kindly once-queen would not let the lost child leave.

*Thrice upon a time, she blocked the lost child's escape with fire at her hands and told them to go back upstairs.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child burned to death, screaming, as the once-queen looked on in horror.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded and woke up in their bed in the Ruins.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child stumbled downstairs, pressing onward toward their escape blindly.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was greeted once more with their captor and her fire.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child gritted their teeth and dodged. 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child survived to see their captor open the door and tell them to leave and not return.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child met a skeleton in the woods who smiled and laughed and did not threaten them, did not hurt them, did not kill them.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child met a skeleton with one foot caught in the revolving door of reality.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child met the skeleton's brother and thought him simple, kind and fun and sweet.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child wandered Snowdin and made friend after friend, smiling and giggling and talking, and thought that perhaps they had been wrong to judge Toriel so quickly, to be so overwhelmingly afraid of monsters.

*These monsters were so kind, so much kinder than most humans the lost child had met. 

*Why had they been afraid?

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child refused to remember the sensation of their flesh crisping off their bones.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child left Snowdin and their new friends, pushing onward. 

*Thrice upon a time, d e t e r m i n a t i o n hummed in the lost child's bones, determination to free their friends and have a big, happy family, mom and dad and Toriel and the skeleton brothers and everyone, everyone down here who deserved better.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was d e t e r m i n e d to bring their friends stars.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was greeted by the head of the Royal Guard with a spear to the face.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was torn to pieces, throat too wounded to even scream as they died.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child r e s e t and forced themself forward, forward, until Undyne once more loomed above them.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded. 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child r e s e t and picked up the knife.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child walked through Snowdin and spoke to no one, feet plodding on with the d e t e r m i n a t i o n to be strong, to never fall again.

*Thrice upon a time, the voice that was of them and not of them whispered mercy, mercy, mercy.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child thought of death and blood and pain, and gripped their knife tighter.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was d e t e r m i n e d to survive and go home.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child discovered that their LV was too low. 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child discovered that they couldn't just kill one monster, not when she was Undyne.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child r e s e t .

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, Toriel found the lost child covered in dust, weeping in a corner, knife at their side.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, when Toriel blocked the way and the lost child felt flame licking at their skin, they squeezed their eyes shut, fear clogging their throat, and swung their blade.

 

 

_*did you really hate me that much, my child?_

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child stumbled out of the Ruins with dust smearing their face and soot on their sweater.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child met Sans and could not meet his eyes.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child didn't spare the dog patrol.

*They wouldn't have spared the lost child, anyway.

*It was just self-defense.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child met Papyrus and dropped their knife, sobbing.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child wandered into the Hall and met Sans.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child fell to their knees, sins too heavy for them to carry.

*Thrice upon a time, Sans looked upon the lost child and let them live, but he did not give them mercy.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child walked into Asgore's garden and did not walk back out.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child r e s e t .

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child did not hesitate to *fight the monsters that tried to kill them.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was d e t e r m i n e d to be strong enough to stand tall under the Judge's scrutiny and not falter.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child had enough LV to defeat Undyne.

*They felt nothing as she fell to dust. They felt nothing as Monster Kid scurried away, crying. They felt nothing as they sifted through Undyne's dust, looking for anything valuable.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child stumbled into Hotland and found it empty.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child discovered what it felt like to be feared.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child found that it wasn't such a bad feeling after all.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child found an empty lab full of flickering camera monitors, and turned away from the reminder of their crimes.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child died again and again to the underground's brightest star.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child screamed and threw themself forward.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child killed a monster that left a body behind.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child stumbled into the Hall, blood on their mouth and dust on their hands.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was greeted by the Judge.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child was greeted by Death.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child reloaded.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child collapsed at the feet of the Judge and offered up their mercy, for they had nothing else to offer.

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge looked down at the pathetic little frame of a genocidal f r e a k and did not offer them the same.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost child r e s e t .

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul had lost faith in everything but LOVE and power.

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child was filled with remorse for their fear and weakness.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child left the knife behind, stood tall when the once-queen battered them with fireballs, and did not harm a single monster.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul screamed their new philosophies into the fallen child's ears, and the fallen child did not listen.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was dragged through the Underground, crippled with fear and hatred. Their red soul was dark and cold and cracked, black ice crunching under a careless boot.

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child cried as they whispered apology after apology to the grinning skeleton that stared down at them and did not forgive them.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child asked the Judge for a chance to go back and make everything right.

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge decided to give it to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child befriended all those they had killed. They blinked away the phantom of dust on their skin and smiled, hugged, flirted, spared instead.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul raged in silence.

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child broke the barrier and stood in the sunlight, smile wide and innocent, eyes large and brown and sparkling.

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child hugged the Judge and whispered promises and apologies into his jacket.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge almost managed to believe them.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child forged a life for them and their new family on the surface, with the rest of humanity. Their aunt grew close to Toriel and helped advocate for monsterkind. 

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child made their family- their  _whole_ family- a happy ending.

*Thrice upon a time, the fallen child promised the Judge that they would never ever hurt anyone again, that they'd never ever r e s e t again, that they would only c o n t i n u e .

 

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge believed them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was  _l o n e l y ._

 

 

 

 

 

_*(It called out for help...)_

 

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was angry.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was jealous.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was brave.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was patient.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was perserverant.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was filled with d e t e r m i n a t i o n .

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul grew stronger than the fallen child.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul overpowered the fallen child that hosted them.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul looked out at this plundered happy ending with scarlet eyes and picked up a kitchen knife.

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge returned to find his worst memories made real and new: standing in his kitchen, laughing so hard tears dripped down their red cheeks and redder smile, dust coated in their clothes and hair.

*Thrice upon a time, the Judge was not merciful.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul didn't want him to be.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul r e s e t , and r e s e t , and r e s e t .

*And the Judge suffered, and the Scientist suffered, and the once-prince suffered.

*And the lost soul smiled, and smiled, and smiled, and stood in the Judgement Hall as the Judge died, and cut a fresh smile into their throat to keep from screaming.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul grew tired of playing with their once-brother.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul instead grew a terrible fascination with the one who stood in their way, always, despite knowing that it was ultimately useless. The one who fought and smiled and pretended to care as easily as they did.

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul settled down in the garden among their father and brother's dust, and began fiddling with the rules of reality.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was d e t e r m i n e d to do what had never been done before.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul cleaned a new timeline of all distractions. The scientist and the once-prince hid as well as they always did, but the lost soul knew them to be cowards, and did not bother trying to dust them. It would have been a useless endeavor, anyway.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul took the Judge and locked him away with them.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul began their work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

_* h e c a l l e d o u t f o r h e l p . . ._

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~**_*  b  u  t  n  o  b  o  d  y  c  a  m  e  ._ ** ~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul broke the Judge.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul picked up the pieces and the dust and the blades, and pinned their victim back together into a new kind of being.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul woke their new toy up and gave him a knife, and told him to kill.

*Thrice upon a time, the broken soul did as he was told.

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul laughed and laughed and bathed in the dust their toy brought them.

*Thrice upon a time, the broken soul waited for new instructions, the shine of his blade dulled by the dust coating it.

 

 

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul s a v e d their progress into the timeline.

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul r e s e t . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*The timeline was fragile. The lost soul's interference had woven cracks through it, and when they tried to reset once more, with these changes included, the timeline crumbled.

 

 

*Thrice upon a time, the lost soul was d e t e r m i n e d to succeed.

 

 

 

*The timeline rebuilt itself, and the world restarted... with a few new lines of code included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, a human child jumped into the Underground, face split into a wide, scarlet smile.

*Once upon a time, the lost soul took the prince's hand, still smiling, and told him their name.

*Once upon a time, the lost soul allowed their world to crumble once more, because they knew that in order to build a new, better world, the old one had to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, a skeleton child watched his father be e r a s e d , the friend of his life at his side.

*Once upon a time, the skeleton smiled, and did not stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, an orange soul fell into the Underground.

*Once upon a time, a pale blue soul fell into the Underground.

*Once upon a time, a green soul fell into the Underground.

*Once upon a time, a purple soul fell into the Underground.

*Once upon a time, a dark blue soul fell into the Underground.

*Once upon a time, a yellow soul fell into the Underground.

 

 

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, the f a l l e n c h i l d opened their eyes to a reality that was no longer theirs, feeling the lost soul attached to them, growing like a creeping, choking ivy.

*Once upon a time, the f a l l e n c h i l d tried to scream.

*Once upon a time, the lost soul pressed their mouth shut and told them to be silent.

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, the lost child spared everyone and stood in front of a broken barrier.

*Once upon a time, the lost child looked at Sans and smiled, and gave their apologies, and r e s e t .

 

 

 

 

*Once upon a time, the fallen child lost their d e t e r m i n a t i o n .

*Once upon a time, the fallen child succumbed to the lost soul.

 

*Once upon a time, the lost soul took up their knife and strode out of the Ruins, smile bright on their dusty face.

*They had a partner to retrieve.

**Author's Note:**

> *The author gives a very special thanks to SkyKid, both for writing a f a n t a s t i c spin-off fanfiction using their OC and DefectTale's Chara and Sans (it's listed in the author's gifts: they suggest you read it); and for inspiring the author to finally finish this story and get it posted.  
> *The author thanks everyone for reading, and asks for reactions.  
> *They love seeing you all freak out over their stories.  
> *=)


End file.
